Biden addressed the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, declaring that Trump and Senate Republicans should respect her final wish that her successor not be put in place until after the November 3 election. The former vice president said if he wins the election, it should be his nominee which the Senate considers to replace Ginsburg’s vacant seat.
“If I win this election, President Trump’s nominee should be withdrawn and, as the new president, I should be the one to nominate Justice Ginsburg’s successor,” Biden said. “If President Trump wants to put forward a name now, the Senate should not act until after the American people select their next president, their next Congress, their next Senate.”
Biden rejected earlier calls from the Trump campaign demanding that he release a list of potential Supreme Court nominees. The Democratic candidate said he is refusing to play Trump’s “game,” which is using corruption and partisan fears to capitalize on the death of Ginsburg.
“[Ginsburg’s] granddaughter said yesterday, and said publicly, that her dying words were quote, ‘my most fervent wish is that I not be replaced until a new president is installed.’ As a nation, we should heed her final call to us,” Biden said.
Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced they would push ahead with the nomination of Ginsburg’s vacant seat “without delay” and prior to Election Day. That decision, made within just hours of Ginsburg’s death Friday, has been widely criticized by Democrats who recall that the GOP majority refused to even see or hear former President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, in his final year in office in 2016.
The White House challenged Biden to release his list of potential nominees, with spokesman Kayleigh McEnany appearing on Fox News to answer questions about whether “identity politics” would factor into the Democratic candidate’s shortlist. Trump suggested to reporters Saturday that he would be open to nominating a woman to fill Ginsburg’s vacant seat.
“I could most likely see that it would be a woman, yes, I think I can say that,” Trump responded to reporters outside the White House Saturday before attending a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. “The choice of a woman would certainly be appropriate.”
Potential nominees on Trump’s list included Republican Senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. Additionally, 7th Circuit of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett and 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Lagoa have been mentioned by the president.
